Saskia Alusalu
Saskia Alusalu 
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| nation |
 Estonia
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| birthday | 14th April 1994 (age 26) | ||
| place of birth | Adavere , Estonia | ||
| size | 176 cm | ||
| Weight | 64 kg | ||
| Career | |||
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| Trainer | Tristan Loy | ||
| status | active | ||
| Placements in the speed skating world cup | |||
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| last change: February 24, 2018 | |||
Saskia Alusalu (born April 14, 1994 in Adavere ) is an Estonian speed skater .
Alusalu started speed skating at the age of twelve and concentrated more on the sport from 2011 when she started full-time training in Inzell . In the same year she started for the first time at the Junior World Championships - after she had already participated in the Junior World Cup - and finished there in the victory of Park Do-yeong in 25th place out of 33 starters over 3000 meters. In the 2013/14 season , the then 19-year-old Alusalu made her debut in the Speed Skating World Cup when she competed in Group B over 3000 meters in Calgary. There she ran the Estonian record in 4: 20.12 minutes, but finished 34th out of 37 participants, well behind. With this run, Alusalu was the first Estonian to represent the country in a speed skating World Cup race - but before that, Estonian speed skaters wearing the jersey of the Soviet Union had already taken part in such competitions. At the penultimate World Cup of the winter on March 9, 2014 in Inzell, she reached tenth place in the mass start, seven seconds behind the winner, Claudia Pechstein, and thus won World Cup points for the first time. In the course of this race, however, she also suffered cuts in her chest and thighs, which prevented further starts in the season. In the following three seasons, Alusalu competed regularly in the World Cup, but did not make it into the top ten in any race and mostly achieved average results among the top twenty in the B group. She achieved an outstanding result at the speed skating single-distance world championships in 2015 in Heerenveen , where she finished tenth as at the World Cup race in Inzell.
In the 2017/18 World Cup in Calgary , Alusalu achieved by far her best World Cup result so far when she placed fourth in the mass start. She attacked early and pulled away from the field, until three other athletes around the future winner Claudia Pechstein caught up with her and ultimately overtook her. With this and other good results, she qualified - also as the first Estonian speed skater - for the Olympic Winter Games. In February 2018 she was the flag bearer of the Estonian team in Pyeongchang and competed in the Olympic mass start race. There she reached the final run, in which she pursued the same tactics as in the World Cup race in Calgary and took the lead early on. Here, too, she was ultimately overtaken by the field, but achieved fourth place in the overall result due to the points gained in intermediate sprints. She was voted Estonia's Sportswoman of the Year in 2018 .
In addition to her speed skating career, Alusalu is studying at Tallinn University. She is 11 times national champion.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Course result : World Single Distances Championships 2015 on speedskatingnews.info. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- ↑ Pechstein (GER) leaves pack trailing while Giovannini also exploits indecisive pack on isu.org. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
Web links
- Athlete Profile - Saskia ALUSALU on olympic.org. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
- Saskia Alusalu's athlete profile on speedskatingnews.info with results. Retrieved February 24, 2018.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Alusalu, Saskia |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Estonian speed skater |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 14, 1994 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Adavere |